


somewhere in the sun (i keep on waiting for my ship to come)

by flooded_in_the_sky



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Canon-Typical Injuries, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Force Bond (Star Wars), Injury Recovery, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Star Wars: Sequel Trilogy Era, first order!asami, jedi!Korra, mentions of torture, mentions of vomit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29469939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flooded_in_the_sky/pseuds/flooded_in_the_sky
Summary: Korra shifted in her cell. Tenzin warned her this could happen. She knew what she was getting into the minute she got into the pilot’s seat and left her lightsaber tucked in her bag at home. Still, she had to admit this wasn’t how she saw the mission going.Korra hadn’t been back to Qel’a in years, not since the First Order had first arrived and her parents had whisked her away across the galaxy. When a reconnaissance flight had come back with intel about weapons records, she practically begged the general to let her go. She had enough experience trailing cargo ships on supply runs with Mako and the rest of his squadron, and it was her home planet, and wouldn’t she be more useful in the air than on the ground, anyway?a star wars/lok au that got stuck in my head. enjoy.
Relationships: Bolin & Asami Sato, Bolin & Korra & Mako & Asami Sato, Bolin & Mako (Avatar), Korra & Mako (Avatar), Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

Korra shifted in her cell. Tenzin warned her this could happen. She knew what she was getting into the minute she got into the pilot’s seat and left her lightsaber tucked in her bag at home. Still, she had to admit this wasn’t how she saw the mission going. 

Korra hadn’t been back to Qel'a in years, not since the First Order had first arrived and her parents had whisked her away across the galaxy. When a reconnaissance flight had come back with intel about weapons records, she practically begged the general to let her go. She had enough experience trailing cargo ships on supply runs with Mako and the rest of his squadron, and it was her home planet, and wouldn’t she be more useful in the air than on the ground, anyway?

Useful, indeed, bruised and dizzy and locked in a Force-damned supply closet of a cell, because apparently the First Order had no concern for room to move around. It was just as well, Korra decided, because she could meditate anyway. Tenzin had been harping her about it lately, and it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

Korra sat up, trying not to lean on the wall and wincing as the room spun slightly. She crossed her legs and tried to ignore the sound of her flight suit shuffling and the way it pounded inside her skull. She closed her eyes and tried to reach out, like Tenzin had told her to. Reach out for the Force, because it’s all around you, even in the dark, cold basement of a hellish regime bent on controlling the galaxy. 

Korra shook her head. Those were  _ not _ productive thoughts. She started reaching again, trying to find any bit of life around her. She could feel the stormtroopers walking through the hallways and the hardy roots of the few plants in the ground above her. That was something. She pushed further and felt the people on the surface, felt their footsteps in the soft earth and duracrete she’d been flying over not an hour ago, before a single moment of recklessness had ruined it and sent her careening to the ground and straight into the hands of the enemy.

“This isn’t working,” Korra said to herself, wincing again at the noise. Her head still pounded and the biggest cut on her arm was still wet and sticky. She didn’t look at the blood on her fingers and smeared it on the floor instead. The only light was a dim flat bulb overhead, and even that was a bit too bright for her liking at the moment. Korra sighed and then hissed at the pain in her ribs. 

“This sucks.”

At some point, Korra woke up, which was odd, considering she didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep. Her headache was worse now, probably from dehydration, and her stomach growled in irritation. 

“They have to feed me at some point. They want me alive, obviously,” Korra reassured herself, though every second she spent in here made her think that was less and less likely. She tried to meditate again, mumbling an old prayer Tenzin and Jinora used. 

“I am one with the Force, the Force is with me. I am one with the Force, the Force is with me. I am one with the Force, the Force is with me. I am one-”

The door opened, slightly at first and then all the way. Korra backed into the corner furthest away and made an effort to stand up and face whoever was coming in.

“Don’t try anything, I’m just here with food.” The woman wore black like one of the higher-ups, but she didn’t have any ranking pins, and her long black hair was styled, like she was a prop instead of a person. Korra didn’t say a word in reply as she pushed the plate closer. “You’ll want to eat now, they’re coming for questioning later.” 

“And what if I don’t?” Korra asked, hacking out a cough at the end.

“You’re going to be in a lot worse shape than you are right now, that’s for sure.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t. Just thought you might like the heads-up.” And with that she was gone, and any bit of fight Korra had went with her. She slumped back to the floor in a haze, and tried to investigate the food in front of her.   
“What are the chances this is poisoned or bad?” she wondered aloud, and her stomach growled loud enough to make her groan. “Guess I’m taking a chance.”

The bread was just past stale, and whatever vegetable was there didn’t look much better. The water was warm and tasted like metal. But for all Korra knew, this was her first meal in a day, at least, and she had to make the most of it. As she choked the food down, she pretended Mako was on his way here with the rest of Fire Squadron, ready to blast this place to bits and scoop her out of the remains. It was a nice thought, but Korra knew nobody was coming to rescue her. More likely, they thought she was dead on impact, or executed.

Taking one last swig of the coppery water, Korra leaned back against the wall again and let her eyes shut. If the girl who’d brought her food was honest, she’d need all the strength she could get. 

The torture was endless. By the time they were done, Korra was surprised she could stand at all. She wasn’t so lucky with walking. They dragged her back to the cell and dumped her in, nearly slamming her foot in the door. For minutes or maybe hours, all Korra could do was sit tucked into the far corner and ignore the hallucinations from whatever they’d pumped into her before starting. She flinched away from visions of her mom and dad, Tenzin and the kids, and Mako and Bolin, hoping she’d eventually pass out. But the visions stopped before her eyes shut, and when that happened all Korra could do was stumble over a prayer and let herself cry. 

All too soon, the woman from before startled her awake again with food in hand. This time she didn’t speak, and Korra didn’t bother to look up at her. There was no use in handing over what dignity she had left. 

She got two bites of the same stale bread in before it all came back up.

“Damn drugs.” Korra drank half the water in one go and ignored the taste. She tried bits of the bread until she could hear her stomach over the sounds of the vents in the ceiling and ate the rest in the blink of an eye. The vegetable gunk from before had been replaced with fruit that smelled delightfully rotten, and it threatened Korra with another round of throwing up. She pushed it to the door and backed into her corner, still as clean as it could be, and shut her eyes. This had to end soon, one way or another. 

The door woke Korra for a second time. The same girl was back, still in a fresh uniform and still styled to perfection. 

“Are you okay?” she asked, setting the food down on the bench Korra had yet to use. 

Korra had to bite back a laugh. “Do I look okay to you?”

“Sorry, that was dumb.”

“Yeah, well.” Korra turned her head to the ceiling. “What’s in store for me today, huh? More of whatever the hell yesterday was? Or are they just gonna cut their losses and end it?”

The woman didn’t answer. Instead, she ducked back into the hall for a moment and then shut the door behind her. She wrinkled her nose at the smell, and as much as she didn’t want to, Korra couldn’t help but agree.

“What’re you doing?”

“You need help. Whatever they want with you, you’re in no state to give it to them.”

Korra stifled an attempt at a snappy comeback about how her health mattered beyond ratting out the Resistance, but she held her tongue. Maybe this was a way out.

“So what are  _ you _ gonna do about it? Isn’t that against the rules?”

Pushing her curls back, the woman sighed.

“It’ll be worth it if you talk.”

“Not a chance.”

“Come on. There has to be something you’re willing to give up.”

“Nope. You can run along to your bastard boss and let them know your most valuable prisoner won’t say shit.”

The woman rolled her eyes. “Look, I’m trying to help you.”

“Yeah, just like your friends were trying to help Qel'a by terrorizing locals and destroying their towns.”

“You need to keep your voice down.” The woman didn’t acknowledge what Korra had said, just kept bandaging the deep cut on her arm. “I’m not even supposed to be here.”

“Well, then, why are you here?”

“You wouldn’t have lasted long without  _ some _ medical attention.” She stood up and looked Korra over, both ignoring the part of her answer left unsaid. No First Order officer gave random medical treatment to a prisoner out of the kindness of their heart.

“Like what you see?” Korra’s laugh was dry and raspy as the other woman rolled her eyes.

“Just making sure you’re not falling apart at the seams, is all.”

Korra didn’t try to ask why again. She clearly wasn’t going to get a straight answer. That was just fine with her, as long as she kept getting food. If she could stay alive long enough to get some strength back, maybe she had a chance.

“Mako, you’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”

He’d been like this for a week, and as much as Bolin loved his older brother, he was starting to get sick of it.

“Do you want to talk to the general again?”

“No, he won’t hear it. I knew this could happen, but-“

“But not so soon?”

“Yeah.” Mako stopped and flopped back on his cot. “She’s still out there. I know it.”

Privately, Bolin had his doubts. He’d seen the report afterwards, and nobody survived an x-wing crash that scattered, not unless they bailed and got lucky.

“What are you gonna do, spring a ship and sneak back in?” 

Mako didn’t reply, which told Bolin all he really needed to know.

“Wake me if you decide to go against direct orders.”

It wasn’t like Bolin didn’t care that Korra was gone. She was one of his best friends, the oldest he had besides Mako. They did almost everything together, and this was probably the longest he’d gone without seeing her in years. But they had their orders, and so did she. It wasn’t like this was unusual, either, and both Mako and Bolin were more aware of it than most. 

However, Bolin didn’t expect Mako to actually wake him in the middle of the night with a full knapsack, ready to leave.

“I have a plan.”

“Oh, good, I was kinda worried you were gonna wing it,” Bolin yawned, and Mako rolled his eyes.

“You know that cargo ship we stole? The one that still has the First Order paint job and access codes?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“We use that to get in. From there, we figure out where the prison wing is and find Korra.”

“Oh, so we  _ are  _ winging it.”

“Are you coming or not?”

“What would I be getting my boots on for?” Bolin grabbed the jacket that had been sitting on the edge of his cot and pulled it on. “Let’s go.”

They crept down the hallway to the shipyard, trying to blend in with the night crew. Bolin figured as long as they kept their heads down and acted like they were supposed to be there, they could get out with no problems. 

They didn’t make it out of the barracks before somebody stopped them.

“Where are you going?” Mako froze in his tracks and Bolin ran straight into the bag on his back with a huff.

“What’s it to you?” Mako asked as Bolin shook his head. “Why are you out here?”

Jinora shrugged, cross-legged on the floor and facing the sky. “I felt like it. Energies are different at night. What’s the bag for?”

“None of your business.”

“Definitely not for a secret mission to go rescue Korra?”

Mako rolled his eyes as Bolin replied, “Absolutely not!”

“Come here.” Mako waved for Jinora to follow them to the shipyard.

“Does this mean I get to come with? I’d be useful! I could lead you right to Korra!”

“No, your dad would kill us if we took you on an unauthorized mission. How could you find Korra?”

“I can feel her in the Force. I can sort of tell where she is right now. It’s a little fuzzy because she’s hurt, I think.”

Mako and Bolin exchanged a look. 

“Hurt how?” Bolin asked carefully. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

“I can’t tell. I’m assuming badly, but she’s hanging on. At least, she was the last time I tried to check in.”

“When was that?”

“This morning.”

“So she has to be okay still. Right?” Bolin asked.

Jinora shrugged as they finally saw the stolen ship. “I don’t know.”

“All the more reason to get out there.” Mako opened the ship’s door and started pre-flight checks.

“You know I’m gonna be no help flying this thing, right?” Bolin called from outside.

“Would it kill you to keep your voice down?” Mako called back.

“Okay, I think I have an idea.” Bolin turned back to Jinora, who was watching him expectantly. “Can you keep an eye on comms and the ship’s tracking beacon?”

She looked unimpressed. “That’s it?”

“Better to have you here. Besides, you could try to help guide us through, too.”

Jinora thought it over. “And I get your desserts when you come back? Both for the rest of the week?”

“You drive a hard bargain.” Bolin shook her hand and gave a little salute as he boarded, shutting the door behind him. 

“Jinora’s watching comms for us.”

“That’s something. Sit down.”

Bolin settled himself in the co-pilot’s chair. “That’s so many buttons.”

“Don’t touch any of them. I don’t know what they do.”

“Do you know how to fly this thing?”

“We’ll find out.”

“Your plan  _ sucks _ .”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm planning on updating this on monday nights, so going forward look for that!

The girl was back, but she looked slightly ruffled, hair mussed up and breathing hard.

“What’s got you all in a hurry?” Korra asked, slightly slurred.

“We need to go.”

“What’s this ‘we’ you’re talking about?” 

“Do you want to get out of here?”

Korra’s eyes widened. “Are you-“

“Yes, now let’s  _ go, _ before we get caught,” she hissed, and helped Korra stand. 

They went as fast as they could down the hallway, ignoring the looks they earned from officials and dodging groups of stormtroopers. Finally, the woman stopped at an elevator and pushed Korra inside. She pulled out a datapad and stepped inside as the doors shut. She pushed a button near the bottom of the row on the panel next to the door and then tapped at the pad for a minute. Korra’s knees wobbled as the elevator began rising, and she leaned against the wall, eyes shut.

“Okay, security shouldn’t be a problem. Are you okay?”

“I haven’t had a proper meal in at least a week and I’m pretty sure I have a concussion. What do you think?”

The woman winced. “Sorry. I did the best that I could.”

“So what’s the goal here? What’s the point of all this?”

“We’re escaping.”

Korra rolled her eyes. “What’s this  _ we _ ?”

“Unless you don’t want my help.”

“But why are you offering it in the first place?”

“I want out. My father has been using me as the reason for his own selfish and destructive decisions for too long.”

“And who would that be?”

“General Hiroshi Sato.”

Korra blinked in surprise.

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“No. I’m Asami.” She glanced back down at her datapad. “We’re still in the clear.”

“So you’re helping me escape because, what, you wanna leave the First Order?”

“Well, yes. But there’s a weapon coming that your people need to know about, and lucky for you, my father designed the damn thing. I know it inside and out.”

“What kind of weapon?”

“It destroys suns and uses the energy to raze entire systems, theoretically.”

“Theoretically?”

“It hasn’t been tested yet. Could be stronger, could be weaker.”

Korra didn’t know what to say to that. She tore her gaze away from Asami and the datapad and fixed it on the floor and her own worn-out boots. Anything to keep the room from spinning again. 

The elevator doors opened and Asami grabbed Korra’s hand, sprinting down the hallway as Korra stumbled to keep up. She stopped at a door near the end of the hallway and tapped a code into the touchpad near the door. It slid open and she pulled Korra inside. On the far side of the room, there was a bed bigger than any Korra had ever seen, and the wall to the left of it was covered in monitors. Some looked brand new with spotless screens while others were cracked with splotchy displays.

“Fresher’s off to the right if you wanna clean up, and there’s some clean clothes in there, too. I’m going to check my scanners.”

Korra trudged into the fresher, scrubbing off the dirt from the crash and a week’s worth of sweat. She cleaned the wound on her arm as carefully as she could and bandaged it back up before getting dressed. The pants were a bit too long, but they were better than the utterly destroyed flight suit she’d had on before. Korra laced up her boots and rolled the cuffs of the pants before coming back out. Asami was sitting at a desk in front of the wall of monitors. 

“Oh, good, you’re out. Come here.” Asami pointed to one of the monitors with a thin crack in its screen. “Do you recognize this ship?”

Korra peered at the ship’s path, stretching out from a system to the left of where they were. The call sign of the ship, a First Order freighter, was a jumble of letters and numbers she didn’t know.

“No, why would I?”

“I pulled up a scan on it, and it was reported stolen about a month ago.”

“Huh.” Korra looked back to the screen. “Where did you get all of these?”

“Some I got legitimately, some not. Some were broken and would’ve been thrown out if I didn’t take them.”

“Why do you have all this?”

“I have to keep an eye on things for myself. You think they tell me the truth about anything?”

Korra shrugged. “Fair enough.”

“Is it worth hailing them?” Asami murmured, and Korra suddenly felt her stomach drop.

Asami’s door slid open.

“All things considered, I think this is going pretty well,” Bolin said. They were headed for the base where Korra had crashed near, and Jinora gave them updates every so often, but they hadn’t raised any alarms yet.

There was a crackling from the radio, and a mix of yells and blaster fire came from the speaker before fizzing out completely. 

“What was that?” Mako asked through his teeth.

“I’m gonna find out.” Bolin sent out a ping to Jinora. “Is everything okay down there?”

“Everything’s fine. Why?”

“We must’ve caught some weird interference, then.”

“Huh, okay. You’re going to want to watch out for the star destroyer up ahead, and then the ground defenses after that. Once you get past those, you should be fine as long as you land far away enough.”

“Okay, so we just need to avoid being shot out of the sky. No problem.” 

“Bolin, that’s literally  _ both of our jobs _ .”

“Yeah, but not in a  _ stolen freighter! _ ”

“Guys, come on, focus,” Jinora sighed. “You’re coming within range of the star destroyer.”

“Right.” Mako shook his head as if to bring himself back to the situation, and immediately swerved out of the way of a blast from an ion cannon.

“Shit!”

“Bolin,  _ please _ tell me you’re buckled.”

“I’m not five years old!” Bolin held the edges of his seat so hard he thought his fingertips could break through the pleather lining. 

“Okay, I can do this. I can do this,” Mako mumbled to himself. “This thing doesn’t have guns, does it.”

“No, it’s a cargo ship!”

“Okay, this is fine. I can do this.”

Mako was silent the rest of the way into the atmosphere, even as the ground cannons began blasting at them.

Asami locked the door to her room, breathing hard and favoring the leg that wasn’t bleeding as Korra checked the hallways. 

“That could’ve gone better. Are you okay?”  
“I’m fine, other than the fact that you didn’t bother to tell me you were a _Jedi_ or something!”

“Technically, I’m not, and I didn’t think it was relevant!”

“How is it not-” Asami stopped mid-sentence and took a deep breath. “We need to get out of here, right?”

“Um, duh. Where to?”

“We need to get off base as fast as we can. I know where some speeder bikes are, come on.”

“Wait, no ship?”

“That’ll raise more attention and they’ll shoot us down before we even leave this planet’s airspace. I have a plan and we need to go _ now _ .”

As if to prove her point, alarms started wailing overhead, and she swore.

The two bolted down the hallway and back to the elevator. They ducked inside and Asami pressed a button for a floor below them. Korra leaned against the wall as her head spun, and she felt a faint tug in her mind.

_ Hang on. _

“That can’t be right,” she mumbled to herself. 

“What?”

“Nothing.” Korra shut her eyes and tried to reach out like she had before, and this time, somebody was reaching back. “Jinora?”

_ They’re coming for you. Hang on. _

“What?” Asami asked again, and Korra didn’t reply. 

“Who?”   
_ Mako and Bolin. They’re close. _

“Of course it’s those two. Force, I miss them.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Gimme a minute.” 

_ South of the base a few miles. _

“I know where we need to go.”

The elevator doors slid open, and Korra and Asami shrank back as a squad of stormtroopers passed by. 

“We’re going to the bikes, I told you.”

“Yeah, but I know where we’re going after that. My friends are here, we need to go south.”

“Can they get us out of here?”

“Probably!”

“How do you know?”

“Jedi stuff.”

“Oh, you are  _ so _ explaining this later.”

“Of course the hangar’s locked. Come on.” Asami ducked into a closet and pulled Korra in with her. She pulled out the datapad and set to work getting around the lockdown protocol and giving them a shot. Korra watched Asami as she worked, eyes bouncing back and forth across the screen, mumbling words to herself in incomplete sentences. She was one of the most brilliant and intense people Korra had ever met, and this proved it. 

“Damnit,” she spat after a moment. “What’s keeping me out?”

“Should we run for it?”

Asami shook her head. “We’d never make it.”

“We can’t wait here forever.”

“I know. I’m gonna try something else, hold on.”

Korra turned around to face the door, trying to see if Jinora was still there, but she didn’t feel anything.  
“Got it!”

Korra whipped back around. “Really?”

“I just need to disable the hangar lock, and we need to be ready to go when I do.”

“Well, then, let’s get ready.”

Korra slowly opened the closet door and peered down either end of the hall. 

“Clear. Which way?”

“Left.”

The pair crept out of the closet and bolted for the speeder bikes. Asami sat down in the front seat of one with a pair of helmets and blasters resting in the back basket and glanced down at the wet patch on her pant leg.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Korra asked, sitting down behind her. 

“I’ll be fine, it wasn’t a bad hit.” Korra passed Asami a helmet before strapping her own on and grabbed one of the blasters.   
“Ready?”

“Kinda have to be.” Asami tapped at her datapad hurriedly, and Korra started firing at the handful of stormtroopers that had burst into the hangar. She jerked backwards as Asami fired the bike up and tore out of the hangar through the open door and into the snow-covered trees. Korra kept shooting back as some of the stormtroopers took up positions inside and some jumped on their own bikes. 

“There’s so many of them,” she said, and she could barely hear herself over the wind and the blaster fire. Asami barely swerved out of the way of a cannon blast and pressed down harder on the gas. The sun was rising, and it occurred to Korra that she hadn’t seen this sun or the snow it glinted off of since she was a child.

Somewhere along the way, Asami started driving straight into the sunrise in the south, the pink light reflecting off her helmet. The stormtroopers that had given chase had either crashed into the densely packed trees or had their engines blown out by Korra’s blaster. There were only two left and they were shooting at Korra and Asami like their lives depended on it, knocking down trees left and right. 

“Can you lose them?” Korra asked over the wind. They had to be getting close to Mako and Bolin, she was sure of it, and her arms were sore from holding her position. The cut on her arm had opened again, and Korra could tell because there was a small dark patch on her sleeve and a searing pain underneath it.

“I’m trying! Wait a minute, there’s a ship up there!” Asami yelled, and Korra swore. “Cargo ship!”

“Do you think it’s the one from the scanners?”

“I sure hope so! Get ready to bail!”

“What?!”

“Just do it!” 

Korra faced the sunrise and ducked as she heard more blaster fire. A split second went by before Asami threw herself off of the speeder and into the snow, and Korra followed suit, holding on to the blaster as tightly as she could. They both rolled to a stop, groaning in pain and sitting up.

“Shit,” Asami hissed, and Korra saw flecks of blood in the snow.

“Can you stand?” Korra asked, pulling herself up against a nearby tree.

“Can you?”

Korra rolled her eyes. “Come on.” She offered Asami a hand and hoisted her up. “The ship was close. We can make it.”

“We can make it.” Despite the fact that Asami was technically taller, she leaned her head on Korra’s shoulder as they walked. “Stars, this fucking hurts.”

“Hopefully they’ve got some bacta on board. Even more gauze would be helpful.”

The pair trudged towards the ship, and as soon as Korra could make out the doorway of the ship, Mako and Bolin both came running down the deck.

“Guys!” Korra winced at how scratchy her voice was, and again when both boys crashed into her and Asami. “Force, I missed you.”

“We missed you, too.” Mako took a step back and took both Korra and Asami’s injuries in. “How did you even make it out?”

“I had a little help.” Korra nodded to Asami.

“Who are you, exactly?” Bolin asked.

“Asami Sato. Korra and I got each other out, and she said you were coming.”

“Wait, like General Sato? The guy who routinely tries to blow Mako and I out of the sky?”

Asami winced. “Unfortunately.”

“She said there’s a weapon that can destroy planets. We have to get back to base and get ready for this thing.”

“How do we know we can trust you?” Mako asked with one eyebrow raised.

Korra rolled her eyes. “Guys, she risked her life to get me out of here. You wouldn’t do all the shit we did today if you’re just trying to spy on somebody. Come on, we have to get going. We’re both hurt, and there’s still-“

As if to finish her sentence, a bolt from a stray stormtrooper went into the side of the ship.

“Go, go, go, go, come on.” Bolin helped Asami and Korra on board while Mako took a few shots at the incoming stormtrooper. He ducked back inside the cargo ship and shut the door.

“How do you do pre-flights on this thing?” Bolin asked from the co-pilot’s seat.

“Is this safe? Are we even going to make it out of this planet’s airspace?” Asami asked. 

“No backseat piloting,” Mako said through clenched teeth. 

“She’s got a point, Mako. This thing has definitely seen better days.”

“It’s too risky to stop anywhere nearby.”

“We don’t have to. There’s a town on the other side of the planet where we can lay low, and get a hold of a ship that will actually make it to-well, wherever we’re going,” Asami finished. “This thing has seen better days.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“I told you we should’ve taken a better ship, Mako,” Bolin’s voice bounced around the tight front of the ship, and Korra barked out half a laugh. 

“I missed hearing them bicker.”

“Brothers?”

Korra snorted. “How could you tell?” She looked back down at Asami’s leg. “We should see if we can get something to fix that up better.”

“Nothing a few painkillers won’t fix.” Asami’s smile was more like a grimace, and she seemed to know it. “Stopping for food wouldn’t be a bad idea, either.”

“I’m so hungry.” Korra gently lifted her hand off Asami’s leg, suddenly remembering it was still there. “Anything would be better than that shit in there.”

They sat in silence for a moment, ruminating on all that had happened, before Mako called for Asami to come to the cockpit. She still couldn’t walk well on her own, so Korra helped her into the cramped cockpit.

“This thing was barely designed for two people, forget four,” she muttered. 

“Where’s this town you mentioned? And are you sure it’s safe?”

Asami tapped a set of coordinates into the ship’s nav system. “It’s tiny enough that the First Order doesn’t think to station stormtroopers there, and the locals know me pretty well by now. They’ll help us get off-world, no problem.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! the next few chapters might be slow because i'm trying to edit them and start writing this again, but here is another chapter!

Korra had long given up on getting any sleep, because despite the fact that she was tired beyond belief, half her brain was still hyped on adrenaline and something else she couldn’t put her finger on. Asami was passed out on her shoulder, her good arm, thankfully, and Bolin had decided he would be more useful cleaning her bad arm again, just to be safe.

“So you trust her?” he whispered as he gently unwrapped the sweat-soaked bandages. Korra inhaled sharply before replying.

“I guess so? You didn’t see what was going on in there. She was the only person who opened that door that didn’t want to pry me open in one way or another. And if this weapon is as serious as she claims, I can’t afford not to.”

Bolin shuddered, and Korra kept her eyes fixed on the dingy wall of the ship in front of her. “She’s the reason I’m alive. I have to trust her.”

“Y’know, Mako’s still on edge.”

“Of course he is. Mako’s default setting is on edge.”

“No, about Asami. Maybe you can talk to him?”

“I mean, I guess once you’re done here I can go up there.”

“If he hears it from you, he’ll be okay. He was freaking out after the crash.”

“Huh. I barely remember what happened, to be honest.”

Bolin froze for a moment, but kept working. “It was, uh. It was bad. Your ship was completely destroyed. You must’ve bailed out or something before, because there was no way you would’ve survived.”

“Well, gee, thanks,” Korra mumbled. “Sorry, that was mean.”

“It’s okay.” Bolin finished redressing the cut, which looked less angry than it did before. “I’ll stay back here. Go talk to him.”

Korra gently nudged Asami awake and trudged up the tight hallway to the cockpit, settling herself in the co-pilot’s seat. Mako didn’t look up from the windshield.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, you thought you were doing the right thing.”

“No, I’m sorry for worrying you. That’s the last thing I wanted to do.”

“It’s okay, Korra. Really. I mean, I didn’t have ‘go against direct orders to save my best friend’ on the bucket list, but I did it anyway.”

“You did _what?_ ”

“It’s fine.”

“It is _not_ fine.”

“You needed help-“

“Asami and I would’ve been okay on our own-“

“Well, we didn’t know some First Order officer would _randomly_ decide to help you escape!”

“You should have stayed put when Beifong told you to.”

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t let you go if I knew there was a chance you were still out there.”

Korra didn’t know what to say to that. She knew the way Mako still looked at her sometimes, when he thought she wasn’t paying attention. She knew how gentle he was, whether it was while patching her up or during training, or even just messing around. She knew that some part of her had felt the same way, once. But there was a time and a place. And in a stolen freighter with the rogue daughter of a First Order general while on a planet that was probably actively hunting them all down wasn’t the time or the place. Still, she looked at him, _really_ looked at him, and took the hand of his that wasn’t tightly gripped around the ship’s controls.

“I’m okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

He didn’t reply, but he squeezed her fingers and held them for a long time.

“I think we’re here.” Mako slowed the ship down and landed a half a mile away. He gently shook Bolin awake and shuffled past Korra and Asami to the back of the ship.

“Okay. I’ll scope it out, and we’ll go from there.” Asami stood up shakily with a wince. 

“Absolutely not. You can barely walk.”

“I’ll be fine. Besides, people around here know me.”  
“Uh, guys? Maybe we should come up with a better plan.” Bolin pointed to the windshield, where they could see a troop carrier landing not far from the town center. 

“Oh, come on,” Korra grumbled. 

“New plan: we go out there and take a look, because the entire planet’s probably on a manhunt for the two of you.” Bolin grabbed a com-link and waved to Mako. They headed down the dock and out of the ship without giving the girls a chance to argue. 

“Real nice of them to let us argue your case,” Korra said and sighed, leaning back into the poorly cushioned seat. 

“What if we go out anyway?”  
“No way. We’re a pair of walking targets with that many bucketheads around.”

Asami sighed and crossed her arms. “You could just knock them all out with your Jedi powers again.”

“It doesn’t work like that. And that would be more trouble than it’s worth.”

“How does it work?”

“I don’t know, honestly. All I know is I can feel the energy of things. Plants, people, animals. Everything. It’s kind of cool, but also really weird. And I can use it, I guess. That’s where the ‘move things with your mind’ part comes in. And I get to use a lightsaber.”

Asami nodded. “Are you good? At being a Jedi, I mean?”

“I used to be pretty bad. I’m getting better, I think.”

“Wait, when you were talking to nobody in the elevator, that was a Jedi thing, right?”

“Yeah! One of my friends from home, she’s training too, and she’s really good at connecting with people through the Force. She told me about Mako and Bolin showing up.”

“That’s handy.”

“Definitely. But it’s hard to make connections like that. Jinora’s really in tune with the Force, so she can do all kinds of stuff like that.”

“Wow.” Asami shifted in her seat. 

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just antsy, I guess. I want to get out there and get as far away from here as possible.”

“That’s fair. They should be back soon, and I think I can talk to Bolin. Hold on.” Korra got up and grabbed the other com-link from the charging dock, and turned it on. “Bolin, come in. We’re getting kind of bored over here. Do you copy?”

There was a moment of quiet, and then a crackle from the comm. “We’re here. I think we can get ahold of a ship and get out, but it’ll cost us.”

“Don’t worry about it. My father can finally be good for something,” Asami said, and Korra let out a small laugh. “Who did you talk to?”

“Captain of a ship for hire. Said his name’s Varrick, and he’ll take us wherever we want to go.”

Asami narrowed her eyes. “Try somebody else.” She shut the com-linkoff and turned to Korra. “Varrick’s kind of a loose cannon. He’ll do whatever gets him money, and I can’t say I blame him.”

Korra narrowed her eyes. “Do we have other options?”

“We should.” Asami turned the com-linkback on. “Anything else, Bolin?”

“No. Everybody’s on edge because of all the stormtroopers. I’m kinda nervous, myself, to be honest.”

Asami sighed. “Then we go with Varrick. But he better give us what we want.”

“We’ll be back in a minute.” Mako spoke this time, and Korra heard the com-link crackle as he shut it off on his end.

Mako kept looking back as he and Bolin made their way back to the ship. If they were followed, it would be that much harder to get away. And he kept thinking about what Asami said about that captain, Varrick. He seemed decent, if not a bit eccentric, but he couldn’t get her words out of his head. He wasn’t sure who to trust.

They reached the ship with no problems and ducked back inside.

“How’d it go?”

“I think Varrick is our only option. He’s the only one who would hear us out.”

Asami pinched the bridge of her nose. “Alright, but let me do the talking. I know how to handle him.”

“I don’t know, I kinda like him,” Bolin said, fiddling with his comm. 

“He has his good days, I’ll give him that.” Asami hoisted herself up with some help from Korra. “Let’s get going. The sooner we get out of here, the better off we’ll all be.”

The walk back to town was significantly slower with Korra and Asami. Still, they managed to make it to Varrick and his ship unscathed.

“Asami! My favorite customer.” Varrick waved as they approached. “Your friends here were telling me about your little predicament.”

“Yes, we’re in a bit of a hurry.”

“We need to get to the Ileenium system,” Mako cut in.

Varrick made a face. “That’s a risky trip, isn’t it?”

“We’ll pay handsomely,” Asami smiled, and that seemed to change his tune.

“How handsomely are we talking?”

“If we can leave soon and you keep quiet, I’ll pay fifty thousand.”

“Well, shit,” Varrick said in disbelief, mirroring the thoughts of Korra, Bolin, and Mako. “This must be pretty important.”

“It is,” Asami said. “So what do you say? Fifty grand could go a long way.”

“It sure could.” Varrick studied the group for a moment, and Korra tried to straighten herself. “I could finally make some of those upgrades. Hop in. Zhu Li!” he called to the front of the ship. “Start pre-flights!”

Korra stuck close to Asami as they slowly made their way up the stairs and into the ship. It was decked out with war trophies that looked older than she was, and flags she didn’t recognize.

“You like my collection?” Varrick asked. “I’ve got a little bit of everything. Empire, Clone Wars, before all that, even.”

“How did you get all this?” Bolin asked, staring at an Empire-era stormtrooper helmet mounted inside a wall of the ship behind a glass pane.

“I get around, kid. Sometimes people pay in credits, like Ms. Sato here, and sometimes they pay in a more unconventional currency. I’ll take whatever I’m worth.”

“Huh.” Korra’s eyes landed on the hilt of a lightsaber above the table in the corner of the ship. She half-wondered if the kyber crystal was still inside, or if it had been taken from the hilt before Varrick had gotten his hands on it.

“As much as we’d love to chat, we need to get in the air.”

“Mako, you’re such a party pooper,” Bolin groaned as he sat down.

“He’s right. We’re all set whenever you are, Varrick,” Asami said. 

“Zhu Li! Are pre-flights done?” He ducked his head into the cockpit. “We are a go. Should take us a little less than twelve hours since my hyperdrive isn’t quite up to snuff.”

“That’s better than we would’ve done on our own.” Korra’s bandaging was itching, and it had just occurred to her that they hadn’t gotten any extra supplies in town. “Varrick? Do you have any medical supplies?”

Varrick poked his head out from the cockpit. “Sure! In that cabinet by the table.”

Mako opened it up and found a few bacta patches, disinfectant, and a near-empty bottle of painkillers. He picked it up and rattled it around with a sigh. “ _This_ was our best choice.”

“You don’t need to remind us,” Bolin whispered. “Gimme the stuff. I got this.”

“Thanks.”

Bolin took the bacta patches and disinfectant. After further inspection the painkillers that were left seemed to be as old as some of Varrick’s collection, so they were better left alone. He got to work on Korra and Asami, who were both still in rough shape.

“I can take care of mine, myself, thank you,” Asami said, not unkindly. “I’m used to it.”

“Well, now we’re here to help you, if you’d like us to.” But Bolin didn’t push, and Asami went to the fresher to patch up her wound while Bolin took care of Korra’s.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? Taking a First Order general’s kid back with us?”

“For one thing, she’s nearly an adult, same as us. And she left on her own. It’s not like we captured her.”

“I don’t know. The general might not feel the same way.”

“She won’t be pleased, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Mako said, settling down across from Korra.

“Nosy. And yeah, I know she won’t be thrilled, but she’ll tell us what she knows. It’s a win-win. You get me back, the light of your lives, and we get some very valuable intel.”

Mako rolled his eyes and stifled a grin. “Don’t get cocky.”

“Oh, you’re telling _me_ that? That’s rich, Mister ‘Squadron Commander At Nineteen.’”

“That’s assuming I can keep that title when we get back.”

“I still can’t believe you went against orders like that. I’m not even that special.”

“I mean, you are? Just a little bit?” Bolin interjected. “You’re-”

“Shhh.” Korra cut him off and shrugged in the direction of the cockpit. “Still, that shouldn’t make a difference.”

“What shouldn’t make a difference?” Asami asked as she limped back into the common area. 

“Nothing.” Korra nodded to the cockpit again, and Asami nodded in reply. 

Jinora was a self-proclaimed bad liar, a lack in skill that didn’t help her at all the next morning. Only Kya had asked if she’d seen Mako or Bolin that morning, and she managed to shake her head no and continue eating breakfast. 

Ikki, however, was not convinced. 

“You didn’t see them at all last night? After you went outside?”

“No! I told you already! Go away, I’m meditating.”

“You’re _always_ meditating. Come on! Something exciting is happening on base for once.”

“That ‘something exciting’ only happened because Korra got shot down,” Jinora snapped, starting to lose what little cool she had. If she focused, she could feel Korra. She was better than before, which meant that Mako and Bolin were succeeding, at least a little bit. Not that she could tell, since they apparently ditched the ship and hadn’t bothered to tell her. 

Ikki left her alone after that, and Jinora couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit bad. 

The morning was spent avoiding the impromptu investigation at all costs and sparring with Ikki, who was still upset with being told off. By the time the sun was at its peak, Jinora was exhausted, and planned to spend the rest of the day by the creek just outside the shipyard. She wasn’t counting on her father waiting for the two of them to finish. 

“Jinora, can I talk to you?”

 _Crap._ “Uh, sure.”

“You know you can talk to me, right? It’s not easy to lose a friend like this.”

 _Oh, thank the Force_. “I’m okay, I think. She’s still out there. I can feel her.”

Tenzin looked conflicted, but didn’t say anything in reply, instead pulling Jinora into a tight hug. She knew how much he cared about Korra, both as one of his padawans and as a member of their weird extended family. 

“Trust me, Dad. I think everything is going to be okay.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was meant to go up last night, but i had a huge project to submit, so here it is now!

“Everything is fine!” Varrick cried from the cockpit. “Maybe just buckle up and stay put for a bit!”

Korra held onto her seat as tight as she could while the ship made a sharp left turn and threw her against the wall.

“What do we do? We can’t stay in the air or we’ll get shot down. We’re close enough to land but if we do we’ll lead them straight to base.”

Mako, strapped in and still despite the chaos, stared straight ahead at the wall for a moment, thinking hard. When the ship steadied, he stood up.

“Varrick! You mind letting us take over for a bit?”

“I don’t mind at all, kid! Take a seat!” Varrick all but jumped out of Mako’s way as he headed out of the cockpit. “Zhu-Li, do the thing!” 

Zhu-Li followed Varrick out of the cockpit and to what Korra assumed was the gunner position.

Mako waved for Korra to follow him.

“What are you doing?” Korra hissed as they both sat down. Mako turned the autopilot off and swerved away from home.

“Do you remember the time we hid with my dad’s family on Hou-Ting?” Mako asked.

“Oh! Smart!”

“Sometimes I am.” He winced as a bolt came too close to the side of the ship. “If we can get there in one piece, it’ll be worth it.” He flew down into the planet’s airspace, and Korra answered the ping immediately.

“This is Ba Sing Se control tower, state your call sign.”

Korra panicked. “What’s the ship’s call sign?” she whisper-yelled. Standing up, she yelled to the rest of the ship, “Varrick! What’s the call sign for this thing?”

“The  _ Blackstone! _ ”

“This is the  _ Blackstone _ .”

“What is your business here?” 

Korra winced as the ship jerked sharply again.

“My co-pilot’s family lives in the city, we’re paying a visit.”

“Do you mind explaining the TIE fighters following you?” the officer asked dryly.

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got all the time in the galaxy, ma’am.”

Korra sighed heavily and shut the comms off. “What do I do?”

“Tell them we’re Resistance, I guess. The worst thing that can happen is we’ll have more guns trying to shoot us straight to hell.”

“Optimistic as ever.” Korra rolled her eyes and turned the comma back on. “Sir, we’re Resistance. My co-pilot and I are both pilots with the Fire Squadron, and we hired the  _ Blackstone _ as part of a mission. The pilot and his assistance handed control of the ship to us when the TIEs showed up.”

There was silence on the other end. 

“With all due respect, we’re either going to land here or get blown to bits, so make up your mind!”

“You are clear for landing. We’ll send out reinforcements,” the officer finally said.

“Thank you,” Korra sighed, and slumped back in the chair as Mako prepared for descent.

Varrick bounded out of the ship and flopped face-down on the duracrete.

“Oh, sweet land!” He rolled over onto his back and stared at the sky. 

“Where are we going?” Asami asked. She had one arm around Bolin’s shoulders as he helped her out of the ship.

“You and Korra are seriously beat up. Mako and I have family here, and they can help us get home.”

Korra and Mako were the last to make their way out of the ship.

“Where do we go from here?”

“My grandma’s. She and my family will be glad to see Bolin and I.”

“Oh, I remember her! She liked me, I think.”

“It’s hard not to.” Mako winced as soon as the words left his mouth. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like-“

“It’s fine, Mako. Really.” Korra squeezed his shoulder and stepped around Varrick, who was still splayed out on the ground. 

“Are you the crew of the  _ Blackstone _ ?” An officer with short black hair and dark skin approached. 

“We were its passengers. The pilots are there.” Bolin pointed to Varrick and Zhu Li, who was helping him up off the floor. The officer looked them over and shrugged after a moment. He started talking to Varrick while another officer came to help Asami and Korra.

“We’re here to see Yin Ekai and her family? She lives in the lower ring of the city,” Bolin said.

“We can get you on a shuttle right away,” the second officer replied. Korra didn’t miss the way she eyed the First Order insignias on Asami’s uniform.

“Can I talk to you?”

Tenzin looked up from his tab. “Is something wrong, Jinora?”

“I know where Mako and Bolin are, or are least where they were. They went to Qel’a after Korra even though they said the general told them not to, but I caught them and they told me to watch comms so they wouldn’t get caught, but then they ditched the ship they took so it didn’t really matter.”

Tenzin’s eyes widened.

“Say that again, but slower.”

“Bolin and Mako went back to Qel’a the night before last so they could find Korra. They left in a cargo ship that still had First Order markings, but I stopped hearing from them yesterday. I don’t know where they went.” Jinora sat down next to her father’s desk chair. “Please don’t be mad.”

He sighed deeply. “While I’m disappointed you chose to keep this from me, I’m more upset with Bolin and Mako.”

“But it’s okay! Korra’s alive! I can feel her in the Force, even stronger than before, actually.”

“That’s better than nothing. Come on. We’ll have to tell General Beifong about this.”

After Asami paid him, Varrick wished the quartet friendly skies and took off, but where he was going was anybody’s guess. After applying a few bacta patches, they were ushered to a shuttle ship that moved startlingly quickly through Ba Sing Se’s customs stations and into the giant lower ring of the city. It had been all of ten minutes when Mako stood up and went to the front of the shuttle, wearing a look of confusion.

“Where’s he going?” Asami asked quietly. She turned to Bolin slightly so as not to wake up Korra, already asleep on her shoulder.

“I’m not sure, but I know this isn’t the neighborhood my grandma lives in,” he replied, and a moment later shouts and a blaster echoed from the front of the shuttle. Korra jolted awake.

“What’s going on?”

“That’s what I’m going to find out.” Bolin marched to the front of the shuttle and opened the door to the ship’s cockpit, only to catch the shuttle’s driver as Mako shoved him out. 

“What the hell?”

“He was taking us to Hou-Ting authorities. They saw Asami’s uniform and got suspicious.” 

Asami sighed. “Well, then, I guess I need a costume change if we want to get any further.”

“Is this really necessary?”

“If you’re buying, then yes, it is.” Korra added another tunic to the pile Asami was already carrying.

“We don’t have much time, Korra, come on.”

“Yeah, well, twenty four hours ago I was locked in a shitty little cell and I thought I was dead where I sat, and now I’m here in an open-air market with more color than I’ve ever seen in my life. I think we have enough time.” As if to prove her point, Korra dropped a deep red head scarf in Asami’s arms. “That’s enough. Time to try it on.”

“If you say so.”

Korra was surprised by her own taste. It wasn’t half bad for somebody who spent most of her time in clothes that were so covered in dirt you couldn’t tell what color they originally were. Asami, however, had higher standards, and quickly narrowed down the pile of clothes she’d hauled around to just a few pieces. The red scarf was still in the running, Korra noticed.

“Okay, I think this is the final look.” Asami pulled back the dusty curtain, and for some reason, Korra’s brain short-circuited like a badly jammed blaster. Asami had on a long dark red tunic and black pants, and the red scarf was wrapped around her head so she could pull it up over her face if need be.

“Wow. You really know how to put an outfit together,” Korra said slowly.

“When I wasn’t being used for propaganda, I managed to have a little bit of fun. I grabbed some things for you, too.” She handed Korra a folded bundle of deep blue fabric. 

“I think I’m alright.”

“Come on. It’s all right here. And these clothes are kind of ruined at this point.”

She wasn’t far off. The shirt and pants Korra had taken from Asami were sweaty and caked with dirt and blood, and it wouldn’t be the worst thing to put on some nicer clothes, if only to attract less attention.   
“Alright, fine.” Korra took the bundle into the little changing stall and stripped down, trying to ignore the layer of sweat on her arms as she slipped into the new clothes. The flowy sleeves of the light blue shirt covered the wrapped-up cut on her arm and the pants fell comfortably to her ankles. 

“Are we allowed to wear this stuff out of here?” Korra asked as she pulled back the curtain.

“I don’t see why not as long as we pay. You look nice, by the way.”

“Well, I have you to thank.”

Asami paid the vendor and Korra threw the old clothes in an alleyway dumpster.

“Now we have to find Mako and Bolin. They said they’d be at a bar close by, and I think it’s that way.” Korra pointed to the left, and squinted as they stepped out into the harsh sunlight of the street, her head pounding.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it’s the concussion talking. Can’t really do much about that except wait, I guess.”

“Maybe getting some food will help.”

“It certainly can’t make things worse.”

“Hello? Zhu-Li, second in command of the  _ Blackstone _ . To whom am I speaking?”

“This is General Hiroshi Sato. I believe you’ve met my daughter, Asami?”

“Oh, yes, we just parted ways,” Varrick cut in. His voice was calm and his face was anything but. “What seems to be the issue, General?”

“The  _ issue _ is that my daughter is missing. She was coerced by a prisoner to help her escape, and unless my information is inaccurate, you were the one who took her off-world.”

“I assure you, General, I never would’ve done such a thing if I’d known that was the case.” If Varrick was being honest, there was a lot he would have done for that much money. And while he couldn’t pin what was going on, if the TIE fighters trying to shoot him down were any indication, whatever had just happened was not First Order business. He wasn’t stupid.

“I want you to tell me where my daughter is, and if you do, I’ll consider letting you live.”

“I carry a high price, General. You’ll have to do better than that.”

“I will not negotiate with you. Tell me where my daughter is, or you won’t last another two standard days.”

Varrick gulped. 

“They’re on Hou-Ting, in Ba Sing Se.”

“It’s been a pleasure working with you, Varrick.”

“And you as well, sir,” Zhu-Li said, cutting off the comms.


	5. the gang splits up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here is this week's chapter! enjoy! i apologize in advance because i did minimal research on concussions and the like so it might not be 100% accurate :/

The bar was crowded, and Korra couldn’t help but feel a bit safer in the shadows as they made their way to Mako and Bolin. 

“Took you long enough,” Mako said, but Korra didn’t miss the way he looked at her. Asami sat down and rolled her eyes. 

“If I’d known a First Order insignia would’ve sent everybody’s heads flying, I would’ve ditched my uniform sooner.” 

“We should leave soon, but I don’t think we should go to our grandmother’s. We told the city officers we were going there, they might be waiting for us.” 

“For one First Order officer? Are you sure?”

“Most of the planets in this system are sympathetic to the Resistance, under New Republic jurisdiction, or both, and no offense, Asami, but you’re the main star of their propaganda. Of course they’d be on red alert.” Mako pushed the stew in his bowl around. “But I don’t know where else we could go.”

“Could we find another ship for hire to get us back to D’Qar?” Korra asked.

“We’d run into the same problem as last time. We can’t reveal the base’s location.”

“Can we get a ship ourselves?”

“If your dad’s got the credits, or if we want to steal one,” Mako said.

Asami replied, but Korra couldn’t hear her. Jinora was a faint whisper at the back of her mind, and she couldn’t hear anything over the sounds of the bar.

“I’ll be right back.” She stood up and rushed outside into the street. Jinora’s voice was louder now.

_ We’re coming. Stay where you are. _

“Who’s we?”

_ Tenzin. Don’t leave Ba Sing Se. _

Korra saw a squad of TIE fighters and a Star Destroyer come out of hyperspace at the edge of Hou-Ting’s atmosphere.

“Tell him to hurry. The First Order’s here.”

Jinora didn’t say any more, and Korra went back inside.

“Where did you go?” Asami asked as she sat back down.

“Tenzin’s coming for us, but the First Order’s already here.”

“How?” Bolin asked.

“That sniveling little double-crosser,” Asami snarled, and Korra was taken aback by her aggression. “Varrick sold us out, I’ll bet. I’ve seen him do it before.”

“So now what?” Mako asked. “We can’t stay here, but we can’t leave.”

“We split up. That makes it harder for them to keep track of us. If I’d known that spineless bastard was going to do this, I would’ve taken some of his comms.” Asami stood up. “Bolin and I will go back the way Korra and I came, from the markets. It’ll throw them off if they’re only looking for me or her. Korra and Mako, go to your family, try to get them somewhere safe. If my father’s here, he’ll raise hell to find me.”

Mako eyed Korra from across the table. 

“Is this our best plan?” he asked. 

“It’s our only plan,” she replied. “Now let’s go.”

Mako was seriously regretting ever leaving base as the city’s alarms started wailing. He and Korra bolted down the cobblestone streets and under the clothing lines that connected the buildings above them. They finally stopped at a fruit stand where one of Mako’s uncles was rapidly clearing out his produce.

“Mako! What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story! Can we come in?”

“Of course!” He waved them in as he pulled a cart of produce into the house’s garage and shut it behind him. “I don’t know what’s got all the alarms going off, but I don’t want to take any chances.” He led them up the stairs to the main part of the house, where at least ten more relatives sat around a holo on the table, listening nervously. Others were coming out of their rooms in various states of disarray.  
“-all citizens are to remain inside until the warning has been lifted,” an officer said, and they flickered away. One of the cousins, a little girl who had been staring out the window instead of at the holo, screeched with excitement when she saw Mako and Korra.

“Kiya, we can’t be loud right now,” her mother said. “But if you’re quiet, you can go say hello.”

Kiya nodded her head very seriously, and Korra held back a laugh as she toddled over to Mako, very clearly making an effort to be quiet. Mako sat down to see her.

“Hi, Mako,” she whispered.

“Hi, Kiya. Are you okay?”

“Yep. What are all those a-alarms about?” She stumbled over the word, and Korra felt a pang in her chest as she remembered all the times she heard sirens when she was young. 

“It’s going to be okay, you just have to listen to your mom, okay?” Mako nudged her back to his aunt and stood up. “There are First Order ships trying to land and gain entrance to the city. They’re after a high-ranking defector and an escaped prisoner. You should all get to the cellar, just to be safe.”

He didn’t mention that the prisoner they were after was standing right next to him. 

Mako led the way, helping his grandmother down the steps and into the musty cellar underneath the house as she told him about all that had happened since he last visited, and Korra brought up the rear. She made sure everybody was out of the upstairs before shutting the door and joining the rest of the family in the cellar. 

Korra settled down next to Mako near the cellar door. Her head was pounding, and the number of people in such a small space wasn’t helping. 

“Are you okay?” he whispered, and she shook her head. He put his arm around her, pulling her closer, and for once Korra didn’t even think about fighting it. She’d long made her peace with whatever had happened between her and Mako, and right now, she needed her best friend. 

Korra’s head felt worse for just a moment, and the ground shook.

“This has been the  _ worst  _ trip I’ve ever taken to Ba Sing Se,” Bolin wheezed.

“It’s not exactly a vacation destination,” Asami retorted.

“Speak for yourself!” Bolin sharply pulled her into an alleyway and put a finger to his lips. Asami peeked out and saw a pair of stormtroopers questioning people unfortunate enough to be caught outside.

“What do we do?” she hissed.

“How’s your leg?”

“Not great.”

“Then going over that wall isn’t an option. We either have to run for it or stay put.”

Asami looked out again. “They’re turning back the way they came, and there aren’t any coming from the other direction.”

“Should we try to get to the control tower?”

“What good would that do?”

“I don’t know, I can’t think of anywhere else!”

“Well, then, we shouldn’t leave until we have a plan.”

“Fair enough.” The pair sat down behind a dumpster, trying to stay as out of sight as possible. 

“So you’ve been here before?”

“Yeah. My parents took Mako and I a few times when we were really little, and then we came back a few years ago when another mission went south.”

“Is your family big?”

“Huge. My grandma had four kids counting my dad, and I think there’s six cousins, at least. They all live on the same street if they’re not in the same house. My grandma’s lived there ever since she married my grandpa. I don’t think she’ll ever leave.”

“Are your parents here, too?”

Bolin’s face went grey. “No, they’ve been gone for awhile. They were both pilots for the New Republic, and then the Resistance.”

Asami took his hand and squeezed it. “I’m so sorry. I lost my mother, too.”

Bolin didn’t say anything in reply, but squeezed back. They sat there for a few moments, Bolin staring at the ground, and Asami at the sky. 

“How long will it take for your ship to get here?”

“D’Qar is close, so less than an hour. But I don’t know how they’ll get in safely. It seems like there’s more than four TIEs in the air.”

“They might’ve sent more. I know they sent a troop carrier down.”

Bolin sat straight up. “Wait. You’re saying they brought more ships?”

“Yeah, and?”

“Somebody needs to distract them, take them out. They won’t be able to land otherwise.”

“You’re suggesting we do that?”

“Why not? We can’t do much else. I know how to fly, at least a bomber, and I know the basics for other ships. Can you man a gunner?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Then let’s go! There has to be something we can use at the shipyard. We can stall until Tenzin or the New Republic shows up.” He offered Asami a hand, and she winced as she stood up. Her leg was healing quicker than she’d thought, but it was still sore. 

“Which way do we go?” she asked. 

“This is a nice ship, holy shit!” Bolin marveled at the controls as he slid into the pilot’s seat. “I feel bad for whoever’s going to have to use it after us.”

“This is a suicide mission,” Asami called as she went down the ladder to the ship’s weapons system.

“Not if we’re smart!” Bolin put on the headset sitting on top of the nav system. “Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.” Asami adjusted her seatbelt. “Ready when you are.”

“Copy that.” There was a slight jolt as the ship hovered above the ground and then took off. Asami scanned her view of the sky for any TIE fighters. 

“Where did they all go?” she asked.

“They’re over the city. Get ready, I’m gonna give you an open shot.”

Asami waited for her target to come into view, locked on, and fired. The mechanism jerked back at her as she did, and she watched the shots pierce the outside of the ship, sending it careening to the ground.

“Bolin, we need to draw them away from the streets,” she said quickly.

“I was just thinking that. If you can shoot while they give chase, this’ll work even better.”

“Perfect.” Asami swung her seat around so she was facing the ships starting to follow them. She didn’t wait for the guns to lock onto any of the three TIEs that had given chase, but fired wildly and made them crash into each other over the desert outside of Ba Sing Se.

“Yes! I saw that!” Bolin hooted, and Asami grinned in spite of herself. She’d been waiting for this day for too long. No way was she going to waste it. 

They kept going like that, attracting the attention of the First Order ships and shooting them down, but it didn’t last long. One unlucky shot to the guns and Asami was out of commission.

“What now?”

“I’m putting up the shields. Come up here and strap in. This won’t be a pretty landing.”

Asami did as he said, throwing the headset off and scrambling up the ladder to the seat behind the pilot’s chair while Bolin pushed the ship into the sky until it scraped the atmosphere.

“You did good down there,” he said. 

“Thanks.” She settled herself behind him. “It felt good to finally do something.”

“I bet it’ll feel even better when we land this thing.”

A shot hit the side of the ship. Then another. Asami’s stomach lurched. 

“The shields are up, right?”

“Yeah.” Bolin glanced nervously at the ship’s systems computer. “Might not be for long.” He made a hairpin turn back for the control tower that sent Asami’s head spinning, even with the ship’s artificial gravity.

The ship took another hit and Bolin swore.

“Fuckin’ hell, can we go any faster,” he mumbled to himself, and Asami could see the control tower in the windshield. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her breathing instead of the growing number of alarms coming from the ship’s controls.

“Have you heard anything from Jinora?” Mako asked, and Korra picked up her head.

“No, not yet.” A pause. “How long do you think we’ve been down here?”

The ground shook again, and next to Mako, Kiya buried her face in her mother’s arms. Korra looked at the ground and tried not to think of her own parents.

“Not long enough for them to show up.” Mako studied Korra’s face, and for a split second it reminded her of the look the officers wore during her torture, cold and hard and unforgiving. But then his eyes softened in the way that they always did when he knew something was wrong. “You can try to get some sleep, if you’d like.”

“No, I’ll sleep on the way home.” Korra yawned in spite of herself. “Besides, I need to stay awake in case Jinora has any updates.”

As if she knew they were talking about her, and maybe she did, Korra heard the all too familiar voice in the back of her head.

_ First Order won’t let them land. Fire Squadron had to come with. _

Korra snorted. “Mako, your squadron’s up there.”  
“Wait, really?”

“That’s what Jinora said.”

“Should we go up?”

“Good question. Should we?” Korra asked. 

_ Go now. That way you can get onboard sooner. _

“You’re not also on the ship, are you?”

_ No. Dad wouldn’t let me. _

“Figures. We’re on our way.”

Jinora didn’t say any more, and while Korra worked on opening the cellar door, Mako bid his relatives goodbye, making sure they knew to stay below.

Korra pushed the door of the house open slowly, checking the streets and sky. The only movement was a pair of stormtroopers turning away from the house. She waited until they were out of sight to fully step outside. 

The alarms were quieter now, but the noise bounced around her head painfully, and the dim sunlight only made it worse.

“Let’s go right,” she said as Mako joined her. 

“You don’t look good.”

“Yeah, well. Let’s get home and then you can worry about me.” Korra walked slowly and fixed her eyes on the stones in the street to keep the world from spinning. Mako was silent next to her, and aside from the alarms, the only thing she could hear was her own footsteps and a low ringing.

“Do you hear that?”

“The alarms?” Where Mako would’ve normally sounded incredulous, he was concerned, and it didn’t make Korra feel any better.

“No, that ringing.”

Mako looked around for a moment. “No, I don’t hear anything.”

Korra tried to focus on the stones on the ground and the knowledge that help was on the way instead of the fact that she was probably in very, very deep shit.

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i decided to post the first chapter of this because i've been working on it for a few months and i'm starting to lose my steam with it, so hopefully this will encourage me to keep writing it. updates will be slow for the most part, sorry in advance. special thanks to the discord buds i sent parts of this to over the past few months for hyping me up! work title is from 15 dreams by new politics.


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